Vancouver Canucks forward J.T. Miller may be on personal leave, but that hasn’t stopped the numerous trade rumors surrounding him.
Miller, 31, has been a common name in trade rumors for a while now, even well before this season. When he stepped away from the team on Nov. 19, many speculated that a trade could be on the horizon.
Not if general manager Jim Rutherford has anything to say about it. This week, Rutherford not only flatly denied the Miller trade rumors, but went after those spreading said rumors.
“Don’t start making stuff up on someone in his situation. That’s disrespectful,” Rutherford told Postmedia. “People that do this for fun, or for a living, just go back to making up trade rumors.
“No, we are not (trading him). We stand by him.”
The No. 15 overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, Miller has been a star for Vancouver since his arrival in 2019. In 381 games with the team, he’s recorded 418 points (149 goals, 269 assists) while averaging just over 20 minutes of ice time. He scored a career-high 103 points (37 goals, 66 assists) last season, and was off to another strong start this season with 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 17 games before taking his leave.
Miller previously played for the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, the former of which was actually a rumored trade destination.
Rutherford didn’t have an update on when Miller could return, but of course, the hope is to have him back sooner than later. Vancouver currently sits third in the Pacific division with a 13-7-4 record.